Because it was the Dalai Lama’s birthday, the juniper leaves were burning especially heavy, sending tons of smoke to the Jokhang roof and on to the heavens. From the Jokhang's roof, we looked down at Barkhor Square and the Jowo Utra (Hair of the Buddha), a recently built stone enclosure with a willow tree and two 3m tall steles.

The first, topped by a semi-circular stone carving, is the Smallpox Edict of 1793, inscribed in Chinese. It proclaimed the disease a plague and suggested ways to combat it.

There are no inscriptions on the second tablet, which recorded an alliance between the king of Tibet and the emperor of China in 822AD, guaranteeing mutual respect of the borders of the two nations. The agreement states ‘… the whole region to the east …. being the country of Great China and the whole region to the west being assuredly that of the country of great Tibet, from either side of that frontier there shall be no warfare, no hostile invasions, and no seizure of territory … Tibetans shall be happy in Tibet and Chinese shall be happy in China.’.

Flanking two recently planted willow trees is the stump of an ancient willow tree, known as the hair of the Jowo, allegedly planted by Songtsen Gampo's Chinese wife, Princess Wencheng.